When Gerald R. Ford took the oath of office on August 9, 1974, he declared, "I assume the Presidency
under extraordinary circumstances.... This is an hour of history that troubles our minds and hurts
our hearts." 

It was indeed an unprecedented time. He had been the first Vice President chosen under the terms of
the Twenty-fifth Amendment and, in the aftermath of the Watergate scandal, was succeeding the first
President ever to resign. 

Ford was confronted with almost insuperable tasks. There were the challenges of mastering
inflation, reviving a depressed economy, solving chronic energy shortages, and trying to ensure
world peace. 

The President acted to curb the trend toward Government intervention and spending as a means of
solving the problems of American society and the economy. In the long run, he believed, this shift
would bring a better life for all Americans. 

Ford's reputation for integrity and openness had made him popular during his 25 years in Congress.
From 1965 to 1973, he was House Minority Leader. Born in Omaha, Nebraska, in 1913, he grew up in
Grand Rapids, Michigan. He starred on the University of Michigan football team, then went to Yale,
where he served as assistant coach while earning his law degree. During World War II he attained
the rank of lieutenant commander in the Navy. After the war he returned to Grand Rapids, where he
began the practice of law, and entered Republican politics. A few weeks before his election to
Congress in 1948, he married Elizabeth Bloomer. They have four children: Michael, John, Steven, and
Susan. 

As President, Ford tried to calm earlier controversies by granting former President Nixon a full
pardon. His nominee for Vice President, former Governor Nelson Rockefeller of New York, was the
second person to fill that office by appointment. Gradually, Ford selected a cabinet of his own. 

Ford established his policies during his first year in office, despite opposition from a heavily
Democratic Congress. His first goal was to curb inflation. Then, when recession became the Nation's
most serious domestic problem, he shifted to measures aimed at stimulating the economy. But, still
fearing inflation, Ford vetoed a number of non-military appropriations bills that would have
further increased the already heavy budgetary deficit. During his first 14 months as President he
vetoed 39 measures. His vetoes were usually sustained. 

Ford continued as he had in his Congressional days to view himself as "a moderate in domestic
affairs, a conservative in fiscal affairs, and a dyed-in-the-wool internationalist in foreign
affairs." A major goal was to help business operate more freely by reducing taxes upon it and
easing the controls exercised by regulatory agencies. "We...declared our independence 200 years
ago, and we are not about to lose it now to paper shufflers and computers," he said. 

In foreign affairs Ford acted vigorously to maintain U. S. power and prestige after the collapse of
Cambodia and South Viet Nam. Preventing a new war in the Middle East remained a major objective; by
providing aid to both Israel and Egypt, the Ford Administration helped persuade the two countries
to accept an interim truce agreement. Detente with the Soviet Union continued. President Ford and
Soviet leader Leonid I. Brezhnev set new limitations upon nuclear weapons. 

President Ford won the Republican nomination for the Presidency in 1976, but lost the election to
his Democratic opponent, former Governor Jimmy Carter of Georgia. 

On Inauguration Day, President Carter began his speech: "For myself and for our Nation, I want to
thank my predecessor for all he has done to heal our land." A grateful people concurred.